Environmental groups have hit out at plans to extend the working life of one of Scotland's two nuclear power stations by at least seven years.
Hunterston B in Ayrshire, which provides enough power for one million homes, had been due to close in 2016.
But its operator EDF Energy announced that it expects both Hunterston B and Hinkley Point B in Somerset to remain operational until at least 2023 – the year when Scotland's other nuclear power station at Torness in East Lothian is also due to close.
It means both Scottish plants will be working past the Scottish Government's 2020 target date for having renewable energy providing the equivalent of all Scotland's energy needs.
Hunterston B, which provides 700 jobs, started working in February 1976 and had been scheduled to close last year, but won an extension to 2016.
After extensive safety reviews of its two plants and continuing work with the independent nuclear regulator, EDF decided it did not need to close so soon.
EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz – re-opening the visitor centre for Hinkley Point B in Bridgwater, Somerset – said: "This decision will provide low carbon energy to keep the lights on in the UK and it will safeguard jobs at the plants, in the UK nuclear industry and its supply chain."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said ministers were not opposed to the working life of Hunterston B or Torness which employs 550, being extended, subject to a safety case being made.
She said: "We have consistently made it clear that nuclear energy will be phased out in Scotland over time. But we have also consistently made clear that this does not preclude extending the operating life of Scotland's existing nuclear stations to help maintain security of supply over the next decade."
But Dr Dan Barlow, head of policy at WWF Scotland, said: "Given our growth in renewables and huge potential to use energy more efficiently, Scotland does not need to have this 40-year old nuclear station creating yet more radioactive waste to keep the lights on."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article